Mumbai: VIP's security guards assault man for following traffic rules

The media professional was allegedly hit with a lathi and threatened with a gun because he refused to run a red light and couldn't make enough space for the VIP's car to do so; the car is registered in the name of Aamby Valley Limited

A Khar media professional’s insistence on following traffic rules and refusal to kowtow to VIP culture led to him being hit on the back with a lathi and threatened with a gun on Monday.

No rules apply? The 'VIP' car in which the security guards were travelling

The victim, Ravi Shankar, was allegedly assaulted by an unidentified VIP’s security guards when he refused to run a red light to make way for their car and was not able to make enough space to enable them to do so.

In a pointer to how even proximity to power can go to people’s heads, the VIP was not even in the car when the alleged incident took place and the two security guards and the driver ran the red light in his name. That did not, however, stop the brazen security guards from justifying their act and standing by it even when Shankar managed to stop and confront them.

According to investigations carried out by mid-day, the car is registered in the name of Aamby Valley Limited at the RTO in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune district.

IncidentAccording to a post put up by him on a social networking site, Shankar was waiting at a red light on his bike on Linking Road in Khar (West) on Monday evening when the driver of an SUV started honking furiously behind him. “I was at a traffic signal waiting for it to go green. This Innova comes behind me and (the driver) starts honking like it’s nobody’s business. I looked back to see the driver and some guys yelling and signalling me and other cars to move, so we did. I moved as much as I could but the driver came really close so I looked back to ask him why because the signal was red. One of the security guards pulls out a lathi as he abuses me and hits me on my back. It was a really hard hit. The car escaped the signal (sic) and moved quite fast after that,” Shankar wrote in the post.

Refusing to take the assault lying down, Shankar chased the car for about 100 meters, shouting at and abusing the car’s occupants and asking them to pull over.

“They eventually pulled over and I got off my bike as I continued to abuse them verbally. The guard who hit me came to me. He was followed by another guy who was holding a gun. They both came to me and tried to intimidate me with their size. They argued about how they asked me to move and I should have and how it was right for that guard to hit me,” Shankar alleged in the post.

No helpWhile a crowd gathered around Shankar and the security guards, no one came forward to help him. Seeing the crowd, the guards apologised to Shankar a few times, but the driver came out later and told him that it was a VIP car and that he should not argue.

Threatened“The guy with the gun walked up to me and said that I should be glad it was a lathi because if it were him he’d have put a bullet into me. I laughed instantly because I couldn’t believe he actually said that. I abused them again and told him to shoot me. This is the perfect example of the pathetic state of our country. The VIPs have so much power that they misuse, so much that even their security guards think they can get away with shooting a random person for not letting their car pass a red signal,” Shankar added in his post.

Complaint filedShankar approached the Khar police on Monday night and a Non-Cognisable Complaint was registered.

Senior police inspector Dattatray Bargude of Khar police station said, “We have taken Shankar’s complaint. He alleged that he was threatened with a gun. We have the car’s number and are finding the owner. We are investigating the matter and proper action will be taken.”